Vorador's crows
Vorador's Crows, also known simply as Crows, were a set of mysterious birds which observed Raziel in the early chapters of Soul Reaver 2. They were ultimately revealed to be 'agents' of the vampire Vorador. Profile *'Name:' Vorador's crows *'Category:' Soul Reaver 2 terms *'Introduced:' • Soul Reaver 2 (2001) *'Appearances:' • *'Related Articles:' Vorador, Animals, Silver Half of Vorador's Crest Role After Raziel left the Sarafan Stronghold and explored Nosgoth in the Pre-Blood Omen era in the early chapters of Soul Reaver 2,he had the sensation of being watched as he was silently observed by a number of small groups of crows. When Raziel approached any of the crows they would appear as though taking off before vanishing into a green wispy energy. Noting a grouping nearby the Pillars of Nosgoth, Raziel commented on the sensation they gave him, deducing that someone was "keenly interested in his presence". After being observed by the vanishing crows for some time, Raziel eventually made his way to the Swamp where upon hearing a disturbance among the crows he was able to spot Vorador watching him from a balcony along with the crows - with both disappearing into green smoke. Raziel quickly identified Vorador as the mysterious observer and it seemed that Vorador used crows to keep surveillance on Nosgoth and more particularly Raziel - this was all but confirmed a short while later as Raziel left the Dark Forge and conversed with Vorador, who admitted to watching Raziel since he left the Stronghold. Vorador's crows would continue to watch Raziel as he explored Nosgoth in the pre-Blood Omen era but they would be absent from both the Post-Blood Omen and Early history eras. Later titles did not explicitly feature a return of the concept although regular crows were seen on occasion. Notes SR2-CrowVanish.jpg SR2-DarkForge-Don'tScareTheCrows.png Vorador'sCrest.jpg *The crows are never named in official sources and the original scripts of Soul Reaver 2 make no reference whatsoever to their presence, only mentioning that Raziel "senses he is being watched" and "sees Vorador silently watching him". The only sources to mention them are transcripts of the retail version of the game which mention the "crows" disturbed by Vorador on the Dark forge balcony. Potentially this implies that the crows were not intended to be present in the title and were only added to as a manifestation of Raziel's sense of "being watched". *Despite no direct reference being made of the link between Vorador and the crows, a number of factors suggest they are his agents or otherwise related: They are the sole focus of the camera when Raziel mentions he is being watched, with the observer later revealed to be Vorador; crows are present from the moment Raziel leaves the Sarafan Stronghold, with Vorador later claiming to have been watching Raziel from this point; When approached the crows unnaturally disappear into a green mist virtually identical to that used by Vorador when teleporting and ultimately when Vorador is discovered he is found watching Raziel among a group of crows. Contributing to this is Vorador's use of crow symbols. *A crow is featured prominently on Vorador's crest along wih a creature resembling an Asian "Lung" dragon. The full crest is assembled from two halves in Legacy of Kain: Defiance, With the silver half containing the crow depiction and the gold half containing the dragon depiction. *The crows bear a similarity to Familiars in European Folklore, however they are never referred to as such in the series and it is ultimately unclear whether they are his agents, or simply extensions of Vorador himself (as in the case of Kain's Bat Form), but he does seem capable of observing Nosgoth through their eyes. *Crows or similar Animals are seen in other titles in the series, but few are as directly used by a major character. Crows were first seen in Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain, where the Scarecrow enemies used them as an attacking method, sending a number of crows to fly after Kain. Crows were also seen around the Sanctuary of the Clans in Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, far in Nosgoth's future - potentially these could be descendants of Vorador's crow and retroactively may indicate that Kain used a similar method to keep watch on his Empire. Both Blood Omen 2 and Legacy of Kain: Defiance make use of bird textures in the sky which could be flying crows or similar birds. *Vorador's crows may cause glitches if diturbed on the balcony outside the Dark Reaver Forge, locking the player in the Forge. Category:Index: Soul Reaver 2 Category:Soul Reaver 2 terms Category:Terms